Why does most galaxies resemble a 2 dimensional plane?

Question

Older galaxies mostly tend the revolve forming a disk. Why are the stars not revolving around the center of the galaxy like a sphere instead similar to electron in an atom?

The title mentions the Solar System, but the question body doesn't, and the answers to the two cases are rather different in detail. Perhaps just ask about one (at a time)? — Kyle Oman, Jun 23 '16 at 01:55
Related: http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/93830/2451 , http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/8502/2451 , http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/12140/2451 , http://physics.stackexchange.com/q/26083/2451 , and links therein. — Qmechanic, Jun 23 '16 at 03:42

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 23 '16 at 02:02

1

There are other shapes of galaxies. In particular, look at ellipticals.

answered Jun 23 '16 at 02:02

AHusain

935

All of them are also disk shaped. – Muze Jun 23 '16 at 02:43
No they aren't. Look at the pictures in Rob Jeffries' answer http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/148418/why-arent-there-spherical-galaxies – AHusain Jun 23 '16 at 02:47

Why does most galaxies resemble a 2 dimensional plane?

1 Answers1